Week 1

On Monday, our supervisor, Dr Tara Klassen and her colleague, Dr Alex Smith, greeted us with open arms and we did a small tour around the lab and the campus. We were given student cards to have access to the labs. We were then introduced to other students working in the lab for numerous reasons and from a diverse background. 

The front of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (We had a fire accident on Tuesday and everyone had to gather here)

The lobby

Our student cards and parts of the building

The autoclave machine (We were given a demonstration by Dr Alex)

On Tuesday, we were assigned different papers to read and review. From these papers, we got to know more on our topics and develop our research question. 

On Thursday, we discussed our topics with Dr Klassen and clarified some doubts before the long weekend.

We were really lucky as our visit coincided with Canada Day, which was on Friday. We started the day with a parade at Steveston and had some salmon. Then, we headed to Burnaby Village, where they had another celebration. Later that day, we went to Granville Island, but our visit was cut short as it was too crowded to do anything. After that, we went for dinner at ChinaTown at a Vietnamese restaurant, Phnom Penh. Their signature fried chicken was scrumptious and it was worth the hour wait. For dessert, we went to Rain or Shine where we had some delicious homemade ice-cream. That sums up our first Canada Day.

Canada Day Parade at Steveston

Wild salmon bake

A picture with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

The fried chicken at Phnom Penh

Rain or Shine ice-cream!

On Saturday, we went to the UBC Botanical Garden. We went for a guided tour around the main garden. Our tour guide is Isabella and she brought us around the garden explaining about the plants. They have an Asian section and also a native section. They also have a food garden and medicinal garden. After that, we went for the Greenheart Tree Walk. It was exhilarating. I was terrified at first because I did not expect that we would be that high up on a suspension bridge. After a while, I adapted and I managed to finish the walk. What an accomplishment!

Eagle Perching Tree (If you look closely, there's a bird on the top)

Greenheart Tree Walk

On Sunday, we attended a service at Tenth Church in Mount Pleasant. Then, we went shopping at Metropolis at Metrotown. We were lucky as the Canada Day sales were still going on. We got many things on discount.

 

That is all for our first week in Vancouver. Hoping to have another great week ahead :)